Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced that she lost her only sister, Mercia Bowser, on Wednesday morning.
Merica Bowser died of complications related to COVID-19 on the morning of Feb. 24, the Mayor wrote in a social media post. She died only days before her 65th birthday, March 7.
“Mercia was loved immensely and will be missed greatly, as she joins the legion of angels who have gone home too soon due to the pandemic,” the Mayor wrote on her personal social media page.
“I ask that you continue to keep those who have been lost or impacted by the pandemic and those who are working so hard to protect us from it in your thoughts and prayers, and I respectfully request that my family and I are granted the time and space we need to mourn the loss of Mercia.”
Earlier the same day, Mayor Bowser proclaimed Feb. 24, 2021 as “A Day of Remembrance for Lives Lost to COVID-19,” calling on Washingtonians to pause and remember the neighbors, famiily and friends lost to the virus.
In addition to her sister, the Mayor wrote that Mercia Bowser is survived by her parents Joan and Joseph Bowser, brothers, nieces, nephews, and a host friends ranging from St. John’s Elementary School, to Academy of Our Lady High School, to Fisk University, and Israel Metropolitan CME Church.
Bowser also thanked the doctors and nurses at Washington Hospital Center, who heroically treated her for COVID-19 related pneumonia until her death, thanking them for their kindness.
The Mayor will share how Mercia Bowser will be honored in the coming days, she wrote.
